Chapter Four

Elizabeth sat on the docks nervously waiting for Jason. He had called her last night wanting to know if they could talk. She wasn't sure why, but that phrase made her very nervous. That sort of request rarely turned out to be about something good . At least she had finally gotten some sleep. Liz credited it, at least in part, to her talk with Kelly. It was such a relief to just to talk to someone. She slept better last night then she had in months. She was glad too. It meant she'd have a clear head when Jason showed up.

Jason had been watching her for several minutes. She was so beautiful. It took his breath away to know someone so amazing was the mother of his child. His son or daughter was so blessed. This was why he needed to keep them safe. Hopefully Elizabeth would agree to having a guard easily, or at least without too much of a fight. He didn't want to tell her about Amelia's threat. She didn't need the additional stress that would cause. Jason walked down the stairs silently. "Elizabeth?"

"Hey Jason, you startled me."

"Sorry. um... thanks for meeting me."

"You made it sound important."

"It is. Look, I know we talked about this before. But some things have changed since then. I really want you to have a guard."

Elizabeth bit her lower lip as she thought Jason's words over. "This is really important to you isn't it?"

"Very. I worry about you. Please let me do this one thing?"

"Who?"

"What?"

"Who would be my guard?"

"Oh. I.. um ... was thinking Johnny. Do you remember him?"

Elizabeth smiled at Johnny's name. Clearly she remembered the man. "I thought Johnny was on the island?"

"He's back. In fact I was hoping he could start, well now."

"I trust you, and if this is what you think is best, not to mention necessary, I'll do it. Could he just be you know.."

"Discreet? Yeah. I think he can manage that much."

"Thank you."

Jason took a moment to really study her. She looked so tired. He wished that she'd let him do something, anything to help her. "Elizabeth, is everything okay? You look exhausted."

"The baby's fine Jason. I promise. It's just hard to sleep some times. Plus Cameron's been sick. Not to mention work is crazy. I'd tell you if something was wrong."

"I know. I just care about you."

Elizabeth nodded without looking at him. She knew he worried about the baby. He didn't need to remind her. Elizabeth knew he wasn't trying to make her feel like a burden, but he did. And she hated it. Their baby chose that moment to kick her hard in the ribs. "OH!"

"Did the baby kick?" Jason asked. Sitting down beside her on the bench.

"Yeah. It was really strong one too."

Jason reached his hand out to feel instinctively. He pulled back and looked away. "Can.. Can I feel?" He was almost pleading with her. Elizabeth took his hand and placed it on her abdomen. Jason closed his eyes when he felt their child move beneath his palm. "Wow. That is strong. Does it ever hurt?"

"No. It just can be a little uncomfortable some times."

"I wish I could do more."

"You will, trust me, once the baby gets here you'll get to do lots more."

"Hey boss." Johnny called from the top of the stairs. Jason wanted to kill the older man, he had been trying to get Elizabeth to open up to him, every time he came close they were interrupted. Liz jumped up and ran to Johnny, hugging him tightly. "Good god, Jason, you weren't kidding. She's really pregnant."

"I know."

"It is so good to see you Johnny."

"You too Lizbits. How have you been?"

"I don't think we have that kind of time."

"That bad?"

"Not all of it. Did Jason tell you about Cameron?"

"Your little boy, yeah."

"Yeah, he's such a blessing." Liz told him as she looked at her watch. "Is Johnny working now?"

"Where are you going?"

"My shift starts in twenty minutes."

"No. He'll find you later."

"Okay. um... I'll see you both later than."

The two men waited till she was gone to resume talking. "You weren't kidding. She's a mess. What the hell happened?"

"A lot. Basically one night last summer we found out we'd been cheated on."

"That little shit cheated on her?"

"Yeah. In her bed, with a barely legal teenager. After he got addicted to pain pills."

"What the fuck? She put up with this?"

"For awhile. Anyways she showed up at the penthouse and we.."

"I don't need the details. It's obvious what you did. So, why all the secrecy."

"I just found out last month. She thought she was protecting the baby." Jason said with a shrug.

"You're not angry?"

"I was. But then I realized I did the same thing with Michael. Besides you know Elizabeth she'd didn't do this to hurt me. She's always putting everyone else first."

"You love her."

"Johnny, don't. When Carly and the rest of this town find out, her life as she knows it, is going to be ruined. You remember how it was that winter I got shot. And they only thought I was sleeping with her then."

"Okay, I won't say anything. You know I'm right though."

"Johnny..."

He held his hands up in surrender. "So you want me to find Liz?"

"Yeah. She's at General Hospital. Try the sixth floor."

"Why is she there?"

"She's a nurse now. I'll get Marco to guard Audrey's at night."

"She's still living there? Jason, man why?"

"She won't let me help her. Not with anything. So she's living with Audrey, for now."

"That old bat hates you."

"You should go find Elizabeth. And when you meet Cameron, be gentle. He's shy, around guys especially." Just another thing Jason hated Lucky for.

"You got it boss." Johnny said as he headed off.

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Sam smirked as she left the lawyer's office. The meeting had gone better than she could have ever hoped. Mr. Gorden had bought her story hook, line, and sinker. It was nice to know she could still run a con. Now all she had to do was work on Elizabeth and Jason. Plant doubts in each of their minds about the other. It shouldn't be that hard. The two barely spoke. Sam decided to start with Elizabeth, it was going to be easy making her question everything about herself, and Jason, and their child. And fun too. Sam thought.